The Rural Voice, 1990-03, Page 68PERTH
Paul Verkley, President, R. R. 1, Atwood NOG 1B0
356-9022
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
* The Rural Voice is provided to farmers
in Perth County by the PCFA
Perth Federation of Agriculture
members were given an update on the
changes to crop insurance at our January
meeting.
In 1990, crop insurance will offer
additional coverage, yield buffering,
trend adjustment, and hail spot loss on
many crops. The number of contracts
has grown steadily in Perth. There were
1,789 contracts in 1980 compared to
3,141 contracts in 1989, which is a 43
per cent growth in crop insurance use.
With improvements to the crop in-
surance program and the government's
commitment to use only crop insurance
for disaster relief, enrollment in the
program will probably increase.
In 1989, funding from farmers was
$27.5 million. The federal government
spent $27.5 million, and the Ontario
governments administration costs were
$6 million. In 1990, the program will be
funded jointly by the provincial and
federal governments, with each of them
contributing approximately 27.5 per
cent. The other 45 per cent will be paid
by the farmer.
New in 1990: you will be able to
purchase additional coverage of 5 per
cent or 10 per cent regardless of whether
you are a first-time insurer at the 75 per
cent coverage or a previous insurer with
80 per cent coverage. This could bring
you to a maximum of 90 per cent cover-
age.
Yields have improved over the past
10 years because of technological im-
provements in farming. To make aver-
ages fair given that some farmers have
ten years of history and some have only
two years of history, crop insurance will
be raising yields for a 5th to 10th -year
average.
Since one really disastrous year can
affect your average for 10 years, crop
insurance is now going to buffer exces-
sively high or low yields. If one or more
of your yields is 30 per cent higher or
lower than your average, then that year
will be adjusted on a percentage basis.
Also new in 1990: crop insurance
will be offering hail spot loss coverage
on some crops. Farmers will be paid an
assessed amount of damage from hail.
This amount will be deducted from your
insurable limit so you will not be able to
collect double.
The OFA has been pressuring for
changes to the crop insurance act for
some time now. These changes have
been slow in coming, but we feel they
are a step in the right direction and hope
that over the next few years crop insur-
ance programs will continue to improve,
and that with higher participation from
farmers we will receive better, lower-
cost coverage.0
COMING EVENTS
March 22 — Meeting of the Perth
federation at the Downie Mutual Fire
Insurance Office in Sebringville. 8:00
p.m. Update on the National Farm
Women's Conference held in Saint
John, N.B.
February—We visited members in
Blanshard and put up OFA gate signs. If
you were missed, contact Agnes at 229-
6430.
March — We will be around to put
OFA gate signs up for all the members in
Downie. The executive will be meeting
with Perth County Council. The county
federation will be holding its annual
spring meeting with Harry Brightwell,
MP, and Hugh Edighoffer, MPP.
Perth County Federation of Agricul-
ture office: Agnes Denham, secretary -
treasurer, 229-6430 — OFA field repre-
sentative office: Blaine Stephenson,
273-2032.0
and funds, academics saw an opportunity to
get ad hoc funding for their little graduate
student empires, industry saw an opportu-
nity to update aged plants, and producers
saw an opportunity to buy a pressure sprayer
to clean their tractors and trucks.
The lack of vision, leadership, and co-
operation among all players in this program
was and is appalling. It has accomplished
little except the generation of a useless mass
of data on which future taxpayers' monies
will be spent in trying to justify the program
and if possible get more funding so that little
selfish empires can be continued.
Even worse, OPIIP and other programs
like it have lulled the industry into believing
progress is being made, whereas we are
losing ground at an increasing rate. The
evolution of an effective industry organiza-
tion capable of giving solid leadership is
paramount.
The unduly politically motivated struc-
tures in which groups patronize each other
while they protect their own self-interest are
64 THE RURAL VOICE
very serious obstacles to building our future
competitiveness.
4. Technical Depth
The pork industry must develop its own
in-house technical depth. It cannot depend
on leadership from the outside. It must have
the capacity to be much more self-sufficient.
This means a greatly expanded in-house
physical and human technical resource.
The lack of adaption of competitive tech-
nology is particularly disturbing. I have two
colleagues, Dr. Howard Swatland and Dr.
Brian Kennedy, who have developed world-
class technology in carcass grading and
swine breeding. These technologies have
been picked up and adopted by our European
competitors. We have the sad situation
where Canadian pig research and develop-
ment financed by Canadian taxpayers and, in
particular, Ontario pork producers, is being
ignored by the Canadian pork industry and
used by others to compete against us.
Conclusion: Our organizations and in-
stitutions must adapt to emerging chal-
lenges. If they do not, our pork industry will
shrink to a secondary cottage industry. A
total overhaul and a complete restructuring
of the industry's leadership teams and the
organizations and institutions through which
they operate should commence immedi-
ately. The world is not waiting for us.0
SULPHA RESIDUE TEST ERRORS:
John de Kron, a pork producer near Dublin,
had a battle going with Agriculture Canada
for about six weeks this fall over sulpha
residue tests. His hogs showed positive for
sulpha even though he had never fed the drug
to them. He checked with his feed supplier
and any other possible routes and found
everything passed inspection. In the end, it
was found that one of the chemicals used in
the sulpha test was the cause of the false posi-
tives. If any producer has reason to believe
he is getting false positives, contact a county
or board director immediately.
(Faxing generously provided by Elma
Mutual Insurance, Atwood.)